Five members of a same family were killed by heavy Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday morning. Among those killed are Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, his wife and three minor sons as shells hit their house in Devta Dhar village in Balakote sector.
File photoSome media reports said that Ramzan’s two daughters were injured in the Pakistani firing. Two sisters injured have been identified as 14-year-old Nooren Akhtar and 7-year-old Marin Akhtar. They were shifted to District Hospital Rajouri before being airlifted to GMC&H Jammu for specialised treatment.
India’s army said that its soldiers were responding to what it called unprovoked violation of the 2003 cease-fire agreement between the two countries, reported news agency Associated Press.
Jammu and Kashmir Directorate General of Police SP Vaid tweeted, “Due to shelling from across in Balakote sector of Poonch, five civilians lost their lives. Two others, who were injured, have been shifted to the hospital.”
Due to shelling from across in Balakote sector of Poonch 5 civilians of a family died & 2 are injured who are being shifted to hospital.
— Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) March 18, 2018
Inspector General of Police SD Singh Jamwal told ANI, “We are assessing our situation and have sent our team to the spot. We have sent helicopters to shift the injured to the hospital. Firing is underway.”
Pakistan has not yet made any comments over the latest ceasefire violations.